In this Friday, Nov. 22, 2013, file photo, Emanuel Jumatate, from Chicago, hugs his new Xbox One after he purchased it at a Best Buy in Evanston, Ill.

AP

Microsoft said it has crossed sales of three million units for its latest videogame console through the end of last year, claiming strong demand as it looks forward to its next blockbuster game launch in the coming months.

The Redmond, Wash., tech giant said the sales milestone was in line with internal expectations as supply has begun to catch up with demand.

Microsoft announced its numbers ahead of Sony, which also has a new console late last year. Its chief executive, Kazuo Hirai, may address sales in a Consumer Electronics Show keynote scheduled for Tuesday morning. The Japanese company also has a press conference today set to start at 8 p.m. EST.

David Dennis, a spokesman for Microsoft’s Xbox team, said demand is now following a “cyclical” pattern, dropping off somewhat following the busy holiday shopping season. Still, he said, interest from customers continues to be strong and retail shops are selling the devices quickly.

“We’re very pleased with the numbers we’re seeing,” he said.

The sales data is the latest indication the console videogame market could find itself in a period of continued growth following more than a year of contractions until this fall. Microsoft’s Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4 are considered to be technological achievements in their own right, offering sharper images and faster gameplay, among other features. But analysts have said sales for this generation of videogame consoles may not mimic previous launches.

Videogame executives, meanwhile, have argued for some time that sales were expected to fall before the launch of new videogame consoles, and then rise following their release.

It’s still to early to tell who is right, but the latest sales data does offer insight into how demand is shaping up. The rest of the year broadly is expected to represent a rush by the game makers to entice the second rung of customers to buy the new videogame machines.

Both Microsoft and Sony are planning big launch events for new games. Among them will be “Titanfall,” a space-age war title from Electronic Arts which is being sold exclusively on the Xbox One starting in March. Another will be “Watch_Dogs,” a cyber-crime action game by Ubisoft, also being released around that time.

In the meantime, the fast pace of sales data reports will likely end, as Microsoft said it Monday would be the last time it reports products sold to customers, rather than its typical practice of reporting devices sold to retailers. The former requires Microsoft to call individual retailers around the world to glean up-to-date sales data. The company will also transition back to reporting sales data on a quarterly basis, Dennis said.